EMBO Reports aims to provide high-quality scientific information in the very broadly defined area of molecular biology. EMBO Reports will have in three major sections: scientific reports reviews and science & society. The scientific reports shall be short high-quality papers of a maximum print-length of 5 pages. Papers of all areas of molecular biology will be welcome and the data presented will represent a major new insight into some aspect of molecular biology. Novelty will be a primary criterion as will the quality of the research that is reported. These papers will be reviewed and published rapidly as is in keeping with important primary scientific results. The review section will provide high-quality reviews of selected topics written by leading experts in the field. It will also report on papers of importance which are published in other scientific journals and in doing so will attempt to ensure that the material presented in EMBO Reports is appropriate for a broad readership. A particular emphasis will also be put on incisive reports of meetings at which the latest data are presented. The science & society section will be a mixture of information which is relevant to scientists working in the area of molecular biology discussion on topics which fall into the general category of the environment in which our research is performed and more in-depth articles in which specific scientific topics are dealt with in detail. By the combination of these sections EMBO Reports aims to be a leading widely read interesting journal which is synonymous with high-quality primary reports of research readable stimulating timely reviews and a forum for discussions which are of direct relevance to molecular biologists. In this way it complements the coverage to science which is provided by The EMBO Journal which has already shown the ability of EMBO to develop a journal of high quality in the area of molecular biology.